Deputies: Body found in Polk County plane crash

Airplane crashes near airport in Lake Wales

Posted: 4:02 PM, June 08, 2012Updated: 4:02 PM, June 08, 2012

LAKE WALES, Fla. - Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on Friday that they believe they have found the body of the 13-year-old boy in the Thursday plane crash that killed his parents and three other siblings.

According to a Polk County sheriff's deputy release, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers found the body of the final victim at around 2:20 p.m. Friday, approximately 0.4 of a mile southwest of the main crash site where the main part of the plane rests on the ground.

Deputies said preliminarily and pending positive identification, the body is believed to be that of 13-year-old Boston Bramlage of Kansas.

"This is a tragedy of monumental proportion, and it breaks our hearts. However, we are relieved that we were able to recover this young man so that the surviving family members can have some sort of closure," said Sheriff Grady Judd in a release. "We will remain on scene to assist the NTSB and FAA as long as we are needed. Thank you so much to all of the agencies who came to support us in this investigation."

Polk County fire officials said the plane went down at around 12:30 p.m. near Walk in Water Road, which is located by David's Wines Airstrip Airport in the Tiger Creek Preserve.

Ronald Bramlage, his wife Rebecca, and their three children, Brandon, Bo and Roxanne all died in the crash. Their fourth child, Boston, was not immediately found at the crash site, deputies said.

The family of Bramlage has flown to Florida from Kansas on Friday, Judd said.

Clint Francis, who works with Roadside Venture in Junction City, Kan., said the plane is owned by the company.

NTSB officials said they're still continuing the investigation, which is expected to last for at least nine months. Officials said they are examining pilot and maintenance records. They still don't know how the plane came apart and are looking into if the weather was involved in the crash. Officials said on Friday that another pilot reported hearing the plane send a mayday call before the crash.

Reports say that the group was heading home to Kansas from the Bahamas. They had stopped for customs in Fort Pierce and had taken off a half-hour before the crash.

The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known, but parts of the plane were found two miles from the crash site, which was only reachable by all-terrain vehicles.

The plan was once connected to former Casey Anthony lawyer Todd Macaluso and was part of a hoax in the summer of 2011, with a Anthony look-a-like running from the plane at Orlando Executive Airport.

According to registration records, the plane has changed hands at least once since then.

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